


spare me over 'til another year

by LadyofBoneandIvory



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adult Hermione Granger, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Curse Breaking, Draco Malfoy Has Issues, Draco Malfoy is So Done, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Hurt Draco Malfoy, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Not Canon Compliant, Pining Draco Malfoy, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, hermione has to reconcile with an old ass crush that she hates thinking about
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24505297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyofBoneandIvory/pseuds/LadyofBoneandIvory
Summary: To dodge an engagement to Ron, Hermione returns to Hogwarts to complete her seventh year four years after Voldemort’s death. Much to her horror, Draco Malfoy, now a mere shadow of his former self, has decided to finish his schooling at the same time.When she accidentally discovers that the unhealable wounds that he tries to hide are the result of a Death Eater curse, Hermione puts aside their history to help her former enemy figure out how to break the spell. Little does she expect that her compassion will grow into something else.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 17
Kudos: 37





	spare me over 'til another year

**Author's Note:**

> Hello,  
> This Dramione fic has been rattling around in my laptop since 2018. I have decided to finally get it out on the internet. It will be updated whenever I'm able to. 
> 
> The title comes from the traditional American folk song _O Death_. Here is [my favorite rendition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehFINQKctq0) of it if you're curious.
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“Station 9 3/4! Now boarding!” The speaker cackled over the large crowd of parents and friends saying “good-bye” to their Hogwarts students in the Kings Cross Station.

“Good luck, Mione.” Ron murmured, squeezing Hermione Granger tight and then hesitantly giving the corner of her mouth a light peck.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Hermione kissed the tip of his nose, stepped back and straightened out her faded Gryffindor cape with a good yank.

“This year is going to be so good for you.” Ginny said in a bubbly manner to Hermione while squeezing Harry’s arm.

“I hope so too.” Hermione smiled tiredly, pulling down the extendable handle of her rolling suitcase. She’d not finished packing until three in the morning, indecisive as what to bring with her to a dorm situation once again.

“Alfreda Rein said you could easily try vying for that co-coordinator position without those ‘O’s, ya know.” Ron took and squeezed her hand very gently. 

“Ron, we’re at the train station. Our bookworm knows what she’s doing.” Harry began twisting the new gold band on his left ring finger, a habit both he and Ginny picked up since they returned from their honeymoon in Ireland three weeks ago. 

“I...know, but—“

The overhead speaker again came to life, crinkling with static as a man’s booming voice shouted, “The train is leaving in three minutes.” 

“Gotta go,” Hermione returned Ron’s squeeze and let go. She shouldered her black book bag and grabbed the side handle of the shabby tweed suitcase before stepping over the yellow line and hopping into the open passenger car doorway.

“Love you!” Ginny, Ron and Harry yelled in unison. 

“Give Hagrid a hug for me!” added Harry. Hermione waved behind her without looking back.

The doors closed and with a heavy chuffing sound and a lurch. As the train began moving forward, Hermione looked out the window to see Ginny running along the train, waving and smiling widely with her loose red hair and gold ring glinting in the warm morning light. She got smaller and smaller, finishing at the size of a doll as a tunnel cut her from sight. 

Hermione had to navigate through six noisy cars full of first, second and third years before she found an empty compartment. She threw her suitcase up in the overhead compartment with a huff and threw herself down on the seat. She slumped in a quite unladylike manner and reached down to take off her freshly polished leather school shoes.

 _Were they always this uncomfortable?_ Hermione pulled out her favorite pair of cheap flip flops from her book bag and pulled them on. 

_Socks and flip flops, what a look_. She nodded to herself in approval before pulling out a Mars bar and a trashy Muggle tabloid she picked up from the newsstand that morning before reaching the station with Ron. 

She looked at the printed date. _August 8, 2001_. A little more than three years since Voldemort croaked. Since so many died. Four years since Hermione walked the halls of Hogwarts as a student. 

Hermione had to go home after the Final Battle. Unlike Harry, Hermione didn’t need to adopt Arthur and Molly as her own. While the Weasley family cared for Hermione tremendously, they had a tendency to forget she had loving parents elsewhere. While Mrs. and Mr. Weasley would chatter on and on about their Hogwarts days at dinner and Harry told stories about his parents on a daily basis, the room would go silent when Hermione mentioned hers.

They were both Muggle dentists, plain and simple. Not Nolan and Eleanor Granger, a romance for the ages that started with a shy nerd asking the school’s Irish beauty queen to formal on a dare. Not a father who liked to embarrass his teenage daughter by dancing Irish jigs at pubs or a mother who adored horror movies but had to comfort her terrified husband who insisted on watching them with her. 

After the war, when Hermione told Mrs. Weasley that she needed to go home, reverse the memory charms on her parents, and sort out her family affairs, she responded with “That’s good, dear, you should do that,” while nodding her head and paying more attention to the soup, as if Hermione said needed to go check on Crookshanks before going out for the evening. She didn’t understand what it was like to wipe her parents’ memories, disappear for four months and spend every evening listening to the BBC broadcasts, praying that “Mr. and Mrs. Cassidy” didn’t become part of the “deceased under mysterious circumstances” list due to the wizarding war.

Her parents struggled after resuming their true identities. Her dad would forget Hermione’s name at times or stare at her like he was watching a stranger move about his house over his morning newspaper. Her mom would begin to sign her receipts as “Beth Cassidy,” realize her mistake, and scribble over the typo. At night, when the slack and empty-eyed faces of Tonks and Lupin echoed through her nightmares, the two Dr. Grangers would comfort their hysterical daughter for reasons they couldn’t understand no matter how hard they tried. 

Hermione stayed with her parents for a year and a half after the war. She worked as a receptionist at their office to pay rent. Her wand primarily collected dust except for occasional cleaning or letter-writing purposes. 

Then, a letter came to the Granger residence via snowy owl three months ago. 

In carefully printed text on aged brown parchment, it read: 

_Dear Ms. Hermione Granger,_

_Upon faculty review, it has come to our attention that you have not attended your final year with us due to outstanding circumstances. At reduced tuition, we wish to welcome you back Hogwarts this upcoming fall semester to complete your seventh year, take your N.E.W.T.s, and be fully prepared for whatever career path calls you. Please fill out the form below to respond._

_We await your response,_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Hermione, back on the train, pulled the note that was taped on the back of the letter out of her pocket. 

_Hello Hermione,_

_Since Harry and Ron are Aurors already, everyone and their grandmother wants to employ the third member of the Golden Trio. I sincerely hope you decide to finish your education with us as soon as you are able to. I would be my great pleasure if you decide to come back while I am (body permitting) Headmistress as well._

_Best,_

_M.G_.

Hermione laughed at the poorly drawn but seriously looking tabby cat included at the bottom of the note. The ‘M’ on its forehead looked more like a pair of evil eyebrows than markings. Of course she was coming back! Why not delay adulthood for one more year? She wasn’t ready for the engagement Ron kept hinting at in any sense of the word at 22 years old. 

_Just...study hard and have fun. That’s all you got to do for the next ten months_. Hermione closed her eyes, leaned back, propped up her feet on the opposing seat and smiled in the warm still heat of her own little world. 

Then...the sound of a click and sliding door. Hermione jumped up, threw her shoulder back and looked up at the two intruders. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry for waking you!” The short and curvy girl exclaimed, but Hermione’s attention was drawn to her slim companion. 

”...Malfoy?” Hermione’s voice came out in a squeak. 

“Granger.” Draco Malfoy responded dryly. 

_What’s he doing here?_

Hermione instinctively put her hand into a pocket of her robes, wrapping her fingers around her wand. She traced the carved design of its shaft with her thumb as she studied their faces. Malfoy and his companion were dressed in the Slytherin House uniforms, the girl’s just as wrinkled and ill-kept as her own Gryffindor one. Malfoy’s was well-pressed and neat, all the way down to the scarf, a strange accessory on this humid autumn day.

“...May we join you?” Malfoy asked quietly, choosing to look at Hermione’s shins rather than her face. 

Hermione pressed her lips together in response. His companion sensed the unease in the air.

“One second!” She chirped in her unusual but seductively hazy voice, and began ruffling around in the brown leather purse hanging from her arm.

The woman drew out her long wand made of a black wood. She held out the handle end towards Hermione with wide hazel eyes. Deep amber ringed her pupils. 

Hermione stared at the offered wand in shock. Did this display of goodwill become fashionable during her absence from the Wizarding World? 

The curly-haired witch noticed her apparent confusion. “For safekeeping...you can hold onto it if it makes you feel better about this situation. If there was another empty compartment on the train, we wouldn’t be bothering you. I am dreadfully sorry.” 

When she made no move to take the wand, the witch timidly took a step towards her and placed the wand, handle end towards Hermione’s thigh, on the empty seat next to Hermione. “No worries! I don’t need it on the train.” 

_Who is she?_ Hermione couldn’t remember a heavier, curly haired witch in Slytherin. 

Malfoy noticed Hermione’s transparent confusion. “Granger, this is Pansy Parkinson. I’m not sure if you two have ever been politely introduced, though I know your relationship in school was certainly…strained.”

Pansy’s cheeks flushed to a light pink. 

_Parkinson?!_

It took all of her willpower not to drop her jaw. Malfoy’s minion and squeeze-toy during their fourth year? The dull-witted pug-nosed girl who called Hermione a beaver from their first to third years? The Parkinson in school had a nasty temper and had been rail-thin ever since puberty. Nasty gossip went around that she stole Ashwinder eggs from the Potions closet to keep her weight low ever since second year. The plain faced Parkinson that in front of her had gained at least three stone and had handed Hermione Granger, a filthy Muggleborn she had hated with a passion, her wand! 

“Parkinson...?” 

Pansy gave a small smile. “I look a wee different, don’t I?”

“You-your hair...” Hermione stuttered, trying to pick out the least offensive thing that had changed.

Pansy patted the clip that kept the curls in a twist on the side of her head. “This is my natural hair, fortunately or unfortunately! Didn’t know that the straightening charm I used had a tendency to fry my hair.” She gave a small nervous laugh.

“Well, it suits you.” Hermione said quietly, and gestured towards the seat across from her.

“Thank you, Granger.” Pansy took a duffle bag from Malfoy and put both of their suitcases and this bag in the overhead compartment opposite Hermione’s.

As they sat down and got comfortable, Hermione tried to focus back on her tabloid but found herself sneaking glances back at her two school bullies. 

The last time she saw Malfoy was on the front page of _The Daily Prophet_ during the acquittal of his family’s Death Eater trial in the high courts. A last minute change of allegiance put them in house arrest instead of in Azkaban. 

Hermione began to feel a sting in her eyes and blinked rapidly. _What the hell. What the bloody hell. Draco Malfoy is out of house arrest? Why hadn’t I hear about this? Going to Hogwarts no less! Did McGonagall really think THIS was a good decision?_

She peeked at him again. Malfoy had pulled out a small book, bound in blue leather. The gold lettering on the front cover said “Essential Everyday Charms for Students.” 

Hermione’s chest squeezed tight. _Even the UK Muggle legal system is more reasonable than this! Malfoy would be locked up for at least another year for simply attempting to kill Dumbledore, let alone a war criminal. Pansy would be at least on parole herself for supporting Voldemort._

Hermione forced herself to look at the moving terrain out the window. Her fingers found their way back into her pocket and rolled her wand around in her fingertips. If she decided to incapacitate them, half of the country would condemn her and half of the country would applaud her, no matter the legal implications.

... _Calm down, Hermione. Don’t be stupid. Nothing good would come of that._ She let go of her wand and felt her heartbeat slow to almost normal. A small pang of guilt ran through her shoulders at such a selfish idea. 

_Draco was just a pawn in his father’s hands, remember that? You even testified at his father’s trial_. She looked back up—Draco had been watching her the entire time she fiddled with her wand. They locked eyes for a few moments, but to Hermione it felt like a year.

Draco never looked like the picture of health, but here sat a shadow of his former self. Hermione would rather drink another cat hair-tainted Polyjuice potion than admit it to anyone she knew, but for about three months during her fourth year, she had found Draco Malfoy to be quite handsome in a “if I could snog him based solely on his looks” way. When Malfoy came back from summer vacation that year, Hermione noticed his widening shoulders and how his face was finally beginning to proportionally match his nose and ears. Many other girls did too. Hermione caught her roommates giggling over him quite frequently while they swapped stories and gossip in the dorm. He was never quite her type like Krum or Ron. His looks were more akin to the male fashion models in Mrs. Granger’s high fashion magazines: thin, elegant and almost funny-looking at certain angles. Almost pretty, even. As absurd as it sounded, Hermione could picture Malfoy making a lot of money wearing sweaters. 

Yet here he was, even paler and gaunter than she could ever imagine. His cheekbones jutted out more than she was used to. Malfoy had lost at least ten kilos. She guessed that his uniform had been recently tailored to fit. A thick white scar, two or three centimeters long, ran along right above his jawline on his right cheek. On his left temple, a small keratinized patch of skin, probably sourced from an ignition charm, also marred his once aristocratic features. For that brief eternity, Malfoy stared at her with dull and glassy eyes. He then dropped his head back down and resumed his reading. 

For the rest of the train ride, Pansy (a mouth breather) slept soundly, leaning against Draco’s shoulder. Draco read his book, turning one page after another with long slender fingers. Hermione tried to keep busy by alternating between her tabloid and a Potions textbook for review, but her two companions made her fidget. If they noticed her unease, their body language didn’t portray it. 

When the train arrived at the stop for Hogwarts, Hermione had finished the tabloid and was reading up on Amortmentia when she was interrupted by a timid tapping on her shoulder. 

“Hullo, Granger.” Pansy smiled at Hermione while picking sleep from the corner of her right eye. “Would it be alright if I grabbed my wand from you?” 

“Oh, sure, sure.” Pansy’s wand had partially fallen in the seat’s crevice and Hermione scooted over to let Pansy retrieve it.

Draco grabbed both his and Pansy’s suitcases from the overhead rack and was waiting right outside the compartment for Pansy. Hermione locked eyes with him one more time through the doorway. They held each other’s unemotional gazes for a couple seconds before Draco broke the eye contact.

“Well, I guess I will see you around, Granger! It’s certainly nice to see you again.” Pansy exited the compartment and hurried after Draco’s long strides. 

_The hell?_ Harry and Ron wouldn’t believe what just happened when she told them. Hermione let down her hair, fluffed it out, and grabbed her book bag and suitcase from the overhead rack.

_Time to head back to Hogwarts._


End file.
